It was an emotional hearing before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee for HB 4, better known as Amber's Bill, which would require high-risk domestic violence offenders to be actively monitored via a GPS device.

"Amber Shinault followed the law and got a protective order against her ex-boyfriend," Miller said during the hearing. "The law could not protect her nor could this piece of paper, a protective order."

Miller said 23 other states have implemented a similar program, "so it has been done before and it has worked out successfully. I think Maryland should be moving forward for zero tolerance on domestic abuse."

Boswell testified to the last day she saw her best friend, Amber Shinault, before she was killed in 2012. She explained her mission to get Amber's Bill passed. Amber's parents -- Angela Zarcone and stepfather Steven Zarcone -- were also there.

Jaime Boswell

Angela Zarcone said it was her first time speaking publicly about what happened to her daughter.

"When Jaime (Boswell) asked me three days ago to come here, I thought, 'How could I not go there? When something bad happens, what is the lesson in it? Have we not learned anything?'" Angela Zarcone said.

She likened her daughter's death to that of Nicole Brown Simpson saying that the key difference between the two is that today's GPS technology could prevent domestic-violence related deaths.

"Almost 20 years, we all know the O.J. Simpson story. It was the night of Amber's graduation party. (A) 35-year-old woman (was killed) at home by a known abuser -- think if O.J. had a GPS on him and think of the trial people would've been spared."

Angela Zarcone said she felt it was her responsibility to speak for her daughter and use her as a vehicle for change. She also talked about what Amber Shinault's brother said after his sister's death. "He said, 'Mom this should've never happened.'"

It was a sentiment Angela Zarcone said and others shared in their testimony. That one little missing piece to the puzzle is GPS monitoring, she said.

"So what is the cost of these women's lives?" Angela Zarcone asked.

That's also a question some delegates had. Some lawmakers shared concerned about the cost of the monitoring. Amber's Bill would require the defendant pay associated costs, and for those who couldn't afford to do so, there would be another way, possibly a fund set up, to help cover those costs or secure federal funding to help offset costs.

"You ask, 'Who's going to pay for it?' If you do nothing, the victims pay for it and they actually pay for it with their lives," Steven Zarcone said.

Delegate Trent M. Kittleman asked, "How are the monitoring people to determine where the victim is?"

Angela Zarcone said a victim's cellphone could help notify police and the victim as to the abuser's proximity if that offender was in a no-contact zone. Boswell added that GPS manufacturers also have other options available to help alert victims and can be used as a third-party monitoring vendors to help alert police and the victim in real time.

WBAL-TV\Saliqa Khan

Delegate Deborah Rey asked the women if they had considered a handgun wear-and-carry permit. According to the Maryland State Police website, qualified people who have "a good and substantial reason to wear, carry, or transport a handgun, such as finding that the permit is necessary as a reasonable precaution against danger" can apply for such a permit. Some of those testifying said they had thought about it.

Steven Zarcone spoke with passion and veracity when he addressed delegates during his portion of the testimony.

"If someone is determined, (they don't) care about what is going to happen to them," he said. "You can't rationalize irrational behavior. You never know when they (the offenders) are going to be that way."

He explained that the GPS bracelet does nothing to hinder the rights of the offender.

"All it does is just reinforce the paper (protective order), which really has no teeth in it to protect someone if the offender is determined to go after them," Steven Zarcone said. "Passing this bill is not going to bring my daughter back, but I'll tell you one thing, it will make me sleep a lot better. It'll make a lot of parents sleep a lot better. I think the streets will be safer. People will feel safer."

Three other women in support of the bill also testified to their ordeals.

Jaime Boswell

Andrea Prieto, a real estate agent in Annapolis, testified to her harrowing experience in 2010 as a domestic violence survivor. She spoke emotionally and candidly about her estranged husband holding her hostage for some time before she was able to convince him to let her call her work to tell them she wasn't making it in that day.

While a noise distracted him away from watching her on the phone, Prieto said she used that small window of time to send, what would become, a life-saving text to her co-workers, "911 at my home." She said she quickly deleted the text and put the phone on vibrate before her abuser turned around.

Prieto's ordeal ended after police arrived and surrounded her home, and eventually, her abuser shot himself in front of her. It's an image that she said has changed her life forever. She told 11 News she knows GPS monitoring would have prevented her ordeal.

Lorie Woolschleger and her mother, Jackie Aburn, also testified as victims of a stalker. They both hope that the bill gets passed.

"This way, we'll know if they're coming near us and we won't be so afraid to leave our homes," said Lorie Woolschleger.

"If this bill does not make it through the Senate and the House and become law, more women are going to die," Steven Zarcone said.

No one testified against the bill.

Steven Zarcone urged the public to step in and support Amber's Bill.

"Contact our legislators. Let them know that we need to get this bill passed," he said.

Meanwhile, Boswell said she felt the hearing was a positive step in the right direction.

"I feel strongly that it's going to move forward," Boswell said. "There definitely may be some amendments to it and that's completely fine because I want to make sure it's done correctly and accurately."

So how would Amber Shinault have felt about Amber's Bill?

"She would 100 percent on board," Boswell said. "This would have been even an extra layer of security for her where she wouldn't have to worry about him doing anything to her, and (she) probably would be here still today."

The bill moves next to House Appropriations Committee for review. A date on that hearing has not yet been set.